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Netflix's streaming service went down about midday Christmas Eve, depriving thousands of their Christmas (or anything-but-Christmas) video fix for about 20 hours. Our Christmas gift to you: our latest video-streaming tips, tricks, and alternatives, so you'll be ready the next time this happens.

Creating a DVD backup of a favorite movie or show (legally, of course) means you won't be caught out if your online service dies again. Here are some tips for streaming video to DVD. You can also upgrade your entertainment experience with third-party clients, system or software tweaks, and other handy streaming video tips for power users.

NimbleTV

NimbleTV is a Slingbox-like service with no box.

Was this the last straw for you and Netflix? Check out NimbleTV, a Slingbox-like service with no box, which just started trials.

Vimeo

Vimeo recently reviewed a pay-to-rent movie-streaming service.

Another Netflix competitor gearing up: Vimeo, which recently previewed a pay-to-rent movie-streaming service. (Hulu's been busy as well. This TV-streaming service launched a major makeover late in the summer.)

Amazon Prime users who also own a Xbox 360 can use the Amazon Instant Video App to stream media through this game consoles.

Streaming media is such a hot category, there's always a competitor waiting to catch your eye. If your service goes down, you should be able to find an alternative quickly. Even if you're not stuck, this could be a good time to review what's out there and improve the quality or variety of your choices.

This story, "When Netflix goes down: streaming video alternatives" was originally published by
PCWorld.

Melissa Riofrio spent her formative journalistic years reviewing some of the biggest iron at PCWorld--desktops, laptops, storage, printers--and she continued to focus on hardware testing during stints at Computer Currents and CNET. Currently, in addition to leading PCWorld’s content direction, she covers productivity laptops and Chromebooks, and car tech.